General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) announced May 27 that it completed a crewed-uncrewed teaming flight demonstration pairing an MQ-20 Avenger with an F-35 Lightning II, the first time the F-35 has served as the command node in a test campaign that previously used the F-22 Raptor for CCA command and control development.

The exercise brought together GA-ASI, the F-35 Joint Program Office, the 309th Software Engineering Group, the 461st and 370th Flight Test Squadrons, Lockheed Martin, and autonomy software firm Autonodyne. The demonstration validated the command architecture, data link infrastructure, and autonomy stack required to operate an uncrewed combat aircraft surrogate from a manned fighter cockpit.

At the core of the test was GA-ASI’s TacACE (Tactical Autonomy Ecosystem) software, built on the Autonomy Government Reference Architecture. A-GRA alignment is central to the exercise’s programmatic significance: because the architecture is open and standards-based, autonomy skills, command logic, and mission behaviors can be integrated across platforms without platform-specific software modifications — a prerequisite for the multi-type CCA force structure the Air Force is pursuing. Commands were issued by the F-35 pilot via Autonodyne’s Bashi Pilot Vehicle Interface, a tablet-based, aircraft-agnostic control system that has now been demonstrated with both the F-22 and F-35 as command platforms.

The F-35 was on the ground during the exercise; the MQ-20 was airborne and operating beyond line of sight. Communications between the two aircraft ran through a tactical proliferated low Earth orbit data link — an architecture designed to reduce dependence on legacy line-of-sight links and improve resilience in contested electromagnetic environments. The MQ-20 executed waypoint adjustments, tactical maneuvers, and ADS-B track data exchange back to the F-35.”This significant warfighter integration milestone is the beginning of operational readiness for the Collaborative Combat Aircraft and demonstrates the near-term opportunities for force integration,” said Michael Atwood, GA-ASI vice president of Advanced Programs.

The MQ-20 has served as a CCA surrogate for more than five years, supporting autonomy, distributed sensing, and networked mission execution experiments alongside newer platforms including the XQ-67A Off-Board Sensing Station and the YFQ-42A. GA-ASI describes the Avenger as the most mature purpose-built CCA test asset in the current force integration campaign.